spidermike007

I really love living here. And I have not come up with any real alternatives, that offer a comparable lifestyle, for the money. So, I would put Thailand at number one. But from a standpoint of tourism, Thailand does not attract alot of rich tourists anymore like back in the day, for a dozen good reasons. So, likely alot of the people surveyed were speaking of trips many years ago. Especially since Thailand and Japan were shut down, or highly restricted for well over 2 years.

Yes. All drugs. Get rid of the useless DEA. Stop over crowding the prisons with minor drug offenses, and usage goes down in the process. Look at the countries that have legalized drugs. Most have been successs stories. Look at the ones who have not. Most have been failures.

There are millions of souls who do horrific and evil things for money. It defies the entire theory of natural selection. Greed is a powerful allure.

The war on drugs has been one of the greatest failures in US history. It is utterly moronic. I agree. Legalize ALL drugs. Their allure would likely diminish. And what about the cartels? They would likely diminish too. And think of all those billions that could be saved by downsizing the nearly useless DEA.

Being in prison anywhere would be a dreadful fate. Being in a Thai prison would likely be a nightmare from hell. Just the lack of AC alone. Yikes.

Thailand desperately needs high speed trains and alternative forms of transport. The highways here are choked with trucks of all sizes, due to decades of neglect, on the part of officials, to come up with alternative ways to move cargo. All major cities should be linked by high speed rail. Hua Hin would be a good place to start. And while they are at it, put that airport to work. It is one of the least utilized airports in the world. Why, has remained a mystery, though we have heard rumors. Laos has a high speed train. Thailand is considered a developed nation. I say no. Bangkok, sure. But the rest of the nation is third world, or developing, depending on how PC you are.

I find Bangkok to be a very pleasant city. Of all the major capitals in the world, the local people in Bangkok are some of the most pleasant and well adjusted, the women might be the most beautiful, the food is good and reasonable and the crime does not seem to be much of an issue. Dubai is the last city I would want to work or live. It is down on the bottom of the list with Delhi, Riyadh, Jeddah, Khartoum, Damascus, Harare, Karachi, Dhaka, Lagos and Moscow.

In addition to going the traditional route, you might want to consider some herbal supplements. I use Bilberry Eyebright complex, along with green tea, pine bark, grape seed complex, and black current extract. They have worked wonders for me, and have prevented my vision from deteriorating at all, for the past 15 years. I wear reading glasses sometimes, and distance glasses when driving at night. That is all. My vision remains excellent well into my 60's. Prior to taking these herbs, my vision was slipping. Things were getting fuzzy. If I skip them for 2 or 3 days, the fuzziness comes back, so I know they are working. They tend to strengthen the optic nerve, as well as having other positive effects. The people I know who have tried this tend to have better success, if they have relatively minor issues like I do.

I kind of hope he runs. Anyone with the least bit of substance would beat him. He has presided over a devastating failure of leadership as health minister, and the people deeply despise this administration, and everyone connected to it. I doubt he could win the job of a local headman or mayor, much less PM. Assuming it is a fair election.

Let us count his talents. 1. He is a pilot. Few know of his abilities as a pilot, though he has a license. A propeller plane license, not a jet license, as he does not own any jets. 2. He is very wealthy. Was that money well earned, or did it happen largely as a result of dad's patronage? 3. He is a very poor health minister. He oredoded over a poor vaccination drive, with the choice of the one with the lowest efficacy rate in the world. His choice? We don't know. He was likely part of the reason why Thailand refused help from the world community on the better vaccines, and this was at least part of the reason they ended up so far behind the curve. 4. The highly selective economic shutdowns he and Prayuth presided over killed the economy here. Nobody knows how many businesses were lost and livelihoods destroyed. The economy will likely struggle for years to come. 5. He was highly instrumental in devastating the tourism industry, through extreme cowardice and draconian restrictions, that lasted far too long. 6. He has been the figurehead for the legalization of cannabis. He does deserve some credit for that. Did I miss anything?

Some people seem to be hypnotized by bling. And many others, with low self esteem, feel a pathological need to impress strangers. I do have some issues. But I am thankful that is not one of them.

Likely nearly true. As I am preaching to the expat community. However, if more Thais took action, it could have spectacular results. Laying blame at the feet of horrible leaders is the least we can all do.

Zero change. The extreme hubris and arrogance on the part of the officials seems to result in a level of blindness that is nearly total. They literally seem incapable of learning. The fact they this administration picked department heads from the absolute bottom of the barrel, never considering merit for even a moment, did not help. I could go on all day. My guess is nothing is being done to address anything, and every issue they currently face is being blamed on Covid. Now, they have a real scapegoat, and looking within for the source of any of the problems is less likely than ever. truly believe, that 20 or 30 years from now, in tourism industry, business and sociology classes, at the uni level, there will be tours of these hollowed out shells, of huge hotels that were built, and could neither find guests to stay, nor even a market for condo conversions, and ended up abandoned, after buyers could not be found, or owners refused to accept 20% of the land and construction costs, as a sales price. Covid could have been a great opportunity for a reset. There is nothing to suggest anything like that happened. If anything, Thailand is moving backwards, from being the tiger of SE Asia, to bring a pathetic, sickly, anemic alley cat, begging for scraps.

The recession that is likely coming next year will not help. But, a lot of Thailand's current economic woes are largely self inflicted. This exceedingly reckless administration engaged in multiple, highly selective economic shutdowns, that favored their cronies, and punished the masses. They also kept the nation closed off for far too long, and decimated tourism. Then they partially re-opened, with draconian restrictions. It could take years for a recovery, that will likely never return to what it was before. So, if you want to put the blame in the place it belongs, blame Prayuth and Prawit. They are the architects of the downfall of Thailand, the increased suicides, homelessness, crime, unemployment, desperation, and unhappiness of the people.

Prison would be far more appropriate.

The police here are franchisees. They rarely engage in actual law enforcement. Keep that in mind.

I never said zero. I said an 80% drop from where we are today. Around 5,500 to 6,000 is my forecast. Could take a few years.

Very conventional thinking. Let's discuss this in 3 years when your head is spinning, your portfolio has dropped by a lot, and you are saying "wow, I just did not see this coming". Sure, it happened before. But I did not think history would repeat itself. 35x earnings seems reasonable.

The biggest joke never saw an opportunity for publicity and hounding the news, that he could walk away from. And the powers that be are making the exact same mistake now, as they did when he was head of immigration, by allowing him to be a media star.

Well, some would argue that the very nature of their jobs, and the extraordinary amount of protection they have from the authorities, is in essence a franchise. I would argue that instead of the system avoiding the prosecution of cops, they double the penalty, as they are breaching every moral and ethical boundary by their behavior, and these kinds of stunts.

Well, yes. Our cultures teach us to question authority, not believe everything we are told, and be curious about the world. At least some of us have those qualities. I see many back there who are lock step, always getting in line, and always believing most of what they are told.

Very hard to say. If the DOW drops through the floor, and the major world economies collapse, there is a chance of bitcoin going to $500,000 and ETH going to $50,000. And gold going to $50,000 and silver rising to $2,500 an ounce. But, that is anyone's guess. It would likely only happen under conditions that would make 1929 look like a picnic. A major correction is coming. It is only a question of when, and how severe it is.

Thailand would likely not be where they are today, without the US spending billions on infrastructure here in the 1950's and 1960's. For free. No loans, just a gift. Of course in return they got Thailand as a place to stage invasions into Laos, Cambodia and Vietnam. But, it was not a Chinese, CCP style loan and indebtedness.

Anyone wearing valuable gold, watches, or jewelry out on the streets of Pattaya at night, towards the end of a 2 year long pandemic which has seen unemployment, and homelessness skyrocketing, and incomes plummeting, has to be considered a fool, and does not have my sympathy. Darwin was right. The theory of natural selection, means we all have to exhibit certain survival skills, and common sense, to thrive in this world. Self protection is just one of those skills. Some have it, some do not. Those who do not are prey for the darker spirits who live like vampires, feeding on the misfortune of others.

Though I certainly do not look forward to it, I see a huge global economic correction coming. Call it what you will. It will likely bring a substantial drop in the stock markets, real estate valuations (Thai rural land values may be an exception, maybe), and other asset classes. I see the DOW dropping to around 5,500. Real estate in the US dropping to 40% of current values. Condos here will likely drop by 50%. We shall see. A major correction is needed. The economy remains too overheated, though some economies like Thailand took a major hit from covid, and gross mismanagement.